Thursday, 24 March 2011

The Metal Pack

Codpieces, not a 100% hobby related topic although there must be historical miniatures featuring them. I wanted to mention them as I stumbled on different articles on the subject. A codpiece is a covering flap or a pouch that attaches to the front of the crotch of men’s trousers and usually accentuates the genital area. Although they can be traced way back to ancient history, they are known for being typically Renaissance items reaching their peak of size and decoration in the 1540s before falling out of use by the 1590s.

What I like about them is how they became fashion accessories and therefore completely ridiculous or outrageous. Every generation has its funny thing, think of dropping your pants so that your rear hangs out so you can hardly walk for example. I selected a few pictures of the ones I really like.

If you want to know more about them, there is a great interview on the following website. They talk about interesting side stories such as tour guides in the Tower of London reporting that the codpiece of Henry’s ceremonial armour on display there was often knocked off when women rub it for good fortune or how there is also a theory out there that says the development of the codpiece can be linked to the syphilis epidemic of the 16th century.

7 comments:

I´ve just bought some perry stuff (war of the roses)...28mm and some of the footfolk have got codpieces...the knights not.Bloody odd thing if you ask me...a bit "look at this matey" if there ever was. I mean...did it put the opponent off in a scrap!?Cheerspaul

Perry stuff is quite accurate then since knights would never wear them as it was impossible too ride with them. It seems as well that they would not be worn to battle as chain mail was a better protection. Real poseur stuff!

About Me

A Blog about miniatures, my painting and the pieces of scenery I'm producing. My taste in miniature hasn't change much since I started in the hobby. I still prefer Fantasy stuff to Sci-Fi, however Steampunk is growing on me.